


The Questionnaire

by the_six_fingered_villain



Category: Glass (2019), Mindhunter (TV 2017), Split (2016)
Genre: at least Kevin is alive?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-11-04 15:10:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17900486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_six_fingered_villain/pseuds/the_six_fingered_villain
Summary: Simple cross-over idea I've not been able to shake. FromMindhunterwe have FBI agents Holden Ford and Bill Tench. They interview imprisoned serial killers in order to understand how they think, with the hope of applying this knowledge to solving ongoing cases. FromSplitwe have Kevin Wendell Crumb and his various alters, some of which definitely killed and ate some poor innocent teens. Thanks to Dr. Staple, KWC has seen the error of his ways and is now serving his sentence for these crimes at a high security institute for the criminally insane.What could _possibly_ go wrong with Ford going in and trying to dig up all those pesky little motives and thoughts behind the killings? Would could _possibly_ go wrong....





	The Questionnaire

"We're going to a psych ward this time?" Tench asked, flipping open the folder after he'd settled himself in the passenger seat.

"An institution for the criminally insane," Ford corrected, glancing over at the map and settling in for the three hour drive up to Philadelphia. He waited a bit longer and was rewarded by an inhaled breath of surprise.

"The Horde?" Tench asked, a note of shock and awe in his voice. "How the hell did you get that kind of access?" The road noise didn't drown out the sound of hastily shuffled papers as Bill rifled through the documents in the folder, as if they would contain the answer.

"Wendy knows someone there," was the best Ford could do to offer. There was definitely more too it, he got the impression there was some sort of torrid back story between the woman and this 'Dr Staple' she was talking about but he knew better than to pry. His boss had worked herself up into quite a state as she'd talked around the connection and how she'd secured them access and he'd decide it best to simply thank her and get out of the office as soon as possible.

The ride, as usual, was mostly silent. Bill nodded off for a majority of it, despite the fact it was only eleven in the morning. Holden often wondered if he was just pretending to do so, to spare them both an awkward long trip, but he couldn't get up the nerve to ask. The man woke up or at least was willing to converse for the last half hour of the drive as they crawled through city traffic and then back out of it, reaching the tucked away institution on the other side of the town. The subject of Casey Cooke was brought up, of course, and Bill warned him once again not to get into any of those 'freaky conversations' with the guy.

Ford tried to contain his excitement at the prospect of meeting the infamous Kevin Wendell Crumb. While he was certainly far from the most prolific of killers they'd spoken to, he ranked rather high on the scale of creativity. Holden was in the middle of waxing poetically about how the man had literally eaten human flesh, raw at that, when Bill ask him to kindly shut the hell up. With a nervous glance over to his partner, he did so but his fingers still danced on the steering wheel. He was desperately curious as to which of the alters they might get to speak to during their visit but his train of thought broke off with Bill's gloomy take on the situation.

"It's kind of a waste of our time," the man observed. Ford frowned and pointed out that it such a comment wasn't helpful after they'd already spent three hours driving all the way over here. "Sure, I mean, we need to talk to him," Tench amended. "But the results? They're going to do us no good. This guy is grade A crazy. I don't think he fits the profile of these... serial killers we've been talking about, talking to. This isn't some weirdo getting his rocks off at the expense of some girl. This guy..." He looked back down to the open folder in his lap and shook his head. "I had have a college friend in the Phili PD. He was telling me about it, what they found, what he heard... he was there when they went in to recover those girls."

Looking out the window, Ford swallowed thickly and offered no comment in response to that. The last handful of minutes of the ride were silent and neither spoke again until they'd entered the facility's ominous looking front doors, arched with an excessively dramatic flare that seemed inappropriate for such an institution. It wasn't the first criminal psych ward they'd visited but it looked to be the oldest and the aura it extruded as they passed through the lobby gave Holden chills.

As they passed over their guns and signed into the visitor station, Bill expressed exasperation and irritation at the special addendum that was handed to them. Holden found himself equally displeased as he read over the bullet points, frowning at the nurse behind the desk when he looked up.

"We can't talk about the Beast?" he asked in surprise, waving the paper as if the man on the other side of the glass didn't know what he'd handed them. "We're here to create a detailed psych profile about the killer's motives and thinking at the time of the incidents. How can we do that without talking about the Beast?" The orderly didn't even shrug, the dead eyed expression that Ford got in response was expressive enough. Muttering under his breath, he considered raising more of an issue. "Is Dr Staple around?" he asked, hoping to argue his case with a higher authority. The nurse's eyes widened at this and he gave his head a sharp shake.

"Dude, you do not want to be pissing her off," the man offered, leaning forward to add a conspiratorial note to the warning. "My advise? Follow the fucking rules, ok?" Ford and Holden exchanged looks and both offered wordless non-committal agreement. It was enough for the nurse however and they were waved through the rest of the checkpoints.

Kevin Wendell Crumb was sitting at the visitor table, calmly waiting for them, when they were shown into the room. The man's signature shaved head was covered now with with dark wavy hair, already several inches long. He was facing away from them and Ford couldn't help but note the thick muscles that defined his neck, shoulders, and back were clearly visible despite the man's thin hospital uniform. He turned slightly to track their arrival but made no big display or reaction as the two agents settled across the table from him. Ford found the faint beard the man wore somewhat unsettling, clashing strongly with all the photos he'd ever seen of the Horde.

Tench pulled out the recorder and with an unspoken raised eyebrow received a nod of consent from Crumb to begin recording. With a glance over to his partner, Ford licked his lips and began pulled out the questionnaire. It'd been Wendy's key demand in response to his request to speak to the Horde. She wanted her survey filled out and she'd told him that running it past this Dr Staple woman was what had enabled them to line up the interview. Still, as Ford opened his mouth, he felt the words trip up and come out wrong.

"Hi there, Kevin, how you doing?" he asked in a friendly voice, unable to just cold open with the probing, impersonal questions Wendy wanted them to collect. The man before him nodded and looked around the visitor room, licking his lips and rubbing his cuffed hands together.

"Well, you know, it's another Wednesday in the psych ward. I think we're getting pudding today with dinner." The look he gave Holden was steady. Not cold, not angry, not sad, just... resigned. Something about it, the defeated tone with an underlining note of self deprecation and humor made Ford uneasy and he glanced over to Tench. The man must have sensed Holden's fumbling and he easily stepped into the role of handling the introduction. Kevin offered a polite head nod to both men as they introduced themselves and took the news of the questionnaire surprisingly well. Something must have shown on Ford's face because Kevin offered a smile and further explanation as he glanced up from the gestured at papers. They never showed the killers the questions exactly but it was impossible to follow Wendy's instructions without having the stupid list out to reference.

"Dr Staple always encourages me to talk about my situation," Kevin explained, glancing now between the two men. "She calls it talk therapy. She's certain that the only way I'll get better is by confronting... my past and seeing it... seeing it how it really is. Was. Is." The man's forehead creased and he seemed to draw inward for a moment, struggling with a thought before his face cleared and he was nodding again.

"How it really is?" Ford asked, or rather prompted. "Compared to what? What.... wasn't it?" The peek into the man's mind was too tempting and he found himself edging around protocol already, not even ten minutes into their meeting. There was a disappointed sigh from Bill but it was already too late.

There was a nervous look to Kevin and he raised both hands, cuffed together as they were, to rub at his lips in a thoughtful manner. With the gesture, Ford caught sight of a large ugly scar running up the man's arm and he was unable to suppress his shock at the sight of it. The thing was ugly and relatively fresh looking and Kevin was clearly embarrassed when he noticed Ford's reaction.

"You didn't get that evading the police, did you?" Tench was the one to ask, apparently equally tempted from Wendy's predefined path by the man before them. Kevin sadly shook his head, his hand moving now to scratch at the beard before he lowered his hands, hospital sleeve dropping back down to once again conceal the mark. "Was that part of you transfer from Greenbrook?"

Clearing his throat, Kevin nodded and ducked his head choosing now to stare at the table rather than either of the men. "Yeah," he offered, sounding depressed. "It- They.... I'd rather not talk about it, if it's all right." Glancing up to first Ford then Tench, he had a pleading expression. "I- I thought you guys were going to ask questions about... about-" he cleared his throat again "-about the murders. I'm fine answering those but...."

Again a significant look passed between the two agents. Ford of course burned with a desire to know more. The transfer notes from the prison to the psych ward were vague but extremely suggestive of something having gone down. Unable to help himself, Holden started to ask "Did the Beast-"

There was an angry sound from Tench but it was Kevin who really cut him off, a furious shake of the head and both hands pressed onto the table. "No, it was Dennis. I said I don't want to talk about it-" There was a tension to the man, the flingers flexing as the pressed hard upon the table's surface, and Ford resisted the urge to lean in. Was another alter trying to take over? The latest notes that had been included with his packet suggested that Kevin was present most the time during his incarceration but other alters were still occasionally encountered.

Holden's mouth was open, another prying question on the tip of his tongue when Bill cleared his throat and got them back on track. With effort, Ford swallowed his questions for now and let Tench lead them through the basics of what was going through Kevin's mind during the events. It quickly became clear though that the man was about as clueless as they were as to the precise motives, details, and thoughts that had been going through the kidnapper's mind at the time. Twice Crumb shared what little he could recall from the night of the attack- of seeing the girl Casey and trying to offer her what little help he could. He'd started to repeat it a third time in the face of yet another probing question when Ford finally cut him off.

"Maybe it'd help if- if we could just talk to Dennis for a bit," Ford said, provoking yet another disappointed sigh from Bill. The addendum of rules they'd been handed for this visit had specifically stated not to provoke the appearance of another alter but Bill had been right, they were just wasting their time talking to Kevin if what they wanted were useful details about what had actually happened.

That the request made Kevin uncomfortable was obvious. The man looked around and then craned his neck further, looking back behind him for any sign of guards or observers. There was a camera mounted up in one corner, it's little red light suggesting that someone at least was watching, or could be watching, the conversation but no help or authority figure appeared in the face of such a rules violation.

"I- I don't think that's a good idea," Kevin murmured, dropping his gaze back down to the table. "Dennis- he knows what he did is wrong. We've talked about it. He- He understands now but..." Ford was surprised by the look in Crumb's eye when the man looked up. He'd been expecting unease or fear but instead there was frustration and a defensiveness to his posture that Ford just now noticed. "I don't imagine you'd be very nice to him. I don't want to to do that to him. I-" drawing a deep breath, he nodded again towards the papers Tench held and then to the record. "I can do this. There's no need to get Dennis involved."

"You're just covering for him," Ford said, leaning in now, unable to stop himself from engaging with what interested him. "I thought he was the protector? Shouldn't he be strong enough to answer for what he's done? Isn't it a bit... cowardly for him to make you explain everything he's done? All those horrible things..." Kevin was shaking his head more firmly now, fists clenching and then flexing where they rested atop the table.

"Dennis isn't a coward," Kevin started to argue and then gave himself a shake. There was something about the movement, something a little off about it and Ford watched with rapt attention. "Dennis is strong but I'm strong too and I-" His voice caught though he continued to struggle to speak. "No! I'm ok- I can do- No!"

Though the struggle was minor, the twitches minor and the slight jerk of the head from side to side muted, the uncanniness of it all rolled off the man and left both agents with an uneasy feeling. Tench leaned back in his chair, bracing for what looked to be inevitable now while Ford leaned forward in excitement, breath actually held in anticipation.

When it was over, the man of course held himself differently, sat differently across from them. The look behind those eyes had cooled, his gaze narrowed, and his chin dipped forward slightly. Ford couldn't help but notice the way the muscles in his arms bunched and seemed to strain for a moment as he shifted in his seat. The cuffs rattled and it looked like the man had tried to cross his arms though the slack between them did not allow for such a gesture. Instead he inhaled, chest swelling dramatically, and pressed laced his fingers together atop the table. With a heavy exhale he looked between the two men, crease between his brows evident and somehow distinctly different than the worried expressions Kevin had worn before.

"Dennis Crumb?" Tench eventually asked, tone tentative as he still held himself back slightly.

"It's just Dennis," the man replied with a shockingly different accent. With a sharp gesture of his chin towards the papers he glowered at the older man. "Why are you bothering Kevin with those questions? He didn't do nothing, you should leave him alone."

"You're absolutely right," Ford was quick to reply, thrilled to have the real killer in his presence. "Kevin was absolutely innocent. We're here to get insight into what _really_   happened and you're the one who knows, aren't you? You and... Patricia?" The man tensed at the mention of the other name and sharply shook his head.

"We don't talk about Patricia any more," he muttered, visibly compressing his lips to a thin line and frowning as if to drive home the point. There was a tension to the man again and he rolled his shoulders, hands still tightly clasped.

"Then lets talk about you," Ford breathed, ignoring the disapproval radiating from Tench. He could be as upset as he wanted but they both knew this was what they were really here for.

**Author's Note:**

> Taking a break for a breath of air before we dive into that delicious Ford/Dennis tension that you just know would go very very poorly... hope to update either later tonight or before the weekend is over... Written primarily as a means of torment for my dearest KWC fans. Want a happy story? Well, at least he's ALIVE here....


End file.
